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A Better Way to Close American Bases

By (RET.) GEN. NORTON A. SCHWARTZ and WILLIAM F. MURDY

March 11, 2014

Think of it through a corporate lens: A board of directors expects executive management to rationalize holdings and infrastructure as the market demand transitions from manpower-intensive work to specialized technology-driven operations. This is the kind of restructuring, or “pivot,” the Pentagon is attempting—and rationalizing to Congress.

The Defense Department is not a business, but its financial management activities accord to the same principles that govern public companies. As the Pentagon struggles to meet the full financial statement audit Congress has mandated by late 2017, it will be important for Defense to ensure there are no material misstatements in its reporting on financing for “general property, plant and equipment assets … using an appropriate valuation basis that is in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.” Then again, what is the valuation basis when the asset is obsolete, under-utilized or non-performing?

The Pentagon may act on its own, in particular instances, to shutter installations; Congress only needs be notified and given time to react. But would Congress, deadlocked on big issues like immigration and tax reform, do so? Better to have the commission stipulated by the BRAC law—a nine-person group appointed by the president with recommendations from Senate and House leaders—conduct an independent review of the Pentagon’s proposals, thereby buffering the process from the administration and individual members of Congress, both of whom would have to accept the commission’s decisions all or none.

There is no political upside to closing bases. But it is an act of political courage that at least three previous Congresses have been willing to sustain. The economy and the country survived; most affected communities prospered. And the U.S. armed forces continued to be the most formidable military in the history of the planet. The Pentagon is downsizing many thousands of personnel and hundreds of units of major equipment. But it needs Congress to let it scale back bases too.

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz (Ret.) served as chief of staff for the U.S. Air Force from 2008-2012 and is president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security.

William F. Murdy is chairman of Comfort Systems USA and vice chairman of the board of directors for Business Executives for National Security.